Local Councillor In Whaley Bridge Tells LBC It's 50/50 The Dam Could Fail
2 August 2019, 12:26
A Whaley Bridge councillor has told LBC that if the dam at Toddbrook Reservoir in Whaley Bridge fails "it'll cause tremendous damage to the town."
Local councillor David Lomax said the main shopping area and the high street are all under the dam. While he wouldn't say it would "wipe out the town" he did say he feared it would cause "an awful lot of damage."
He told LBC that the information he was getting was that it was a "50/50 chance."
Tom Swarbirck said that the risk was "exceptionally high," he asked the councillor what could be done to mitigate against it.
Cllr Lomax said they were "dumping thousands of tonnes of stone" via an RAF Chinook helicopter to try and divert water away from the reservoir.
He said the emergency services were going to have to do "a lot of work" during the short spell of dry weather.
When Tom asked how long local residents would be evacuated for Mr Lomax said it would be at least a couple of days.
Watch the whole exchange in the video at the top of the page, or click here to watch the dramatic rescue operation take place.
